stanch.
Possibly strictly.
Meaning & usage
Possibly strictly.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English stanch, a variant of staunch, staunche (“(adjective) in good condition or repair; solidly made, firm; watertight; of a person or wound: not bleeding; certain; intact; (adverb) firmly, soundly”) [and other forms]; see further at staunch.
To stop the flow of (water or some other liquid).
To stop the flow of (water or some other liquid). To stop the flow of (blood); also, to stop (a wound) from bleeding.
A small amount of cotton can be stuffed into the nose to stanch the flow of blood if necessary.
To stop the flow of (water or some other liquid). To make (a building or other structure) watertight or weatherproof.
To check or stop, or deter (an action).
To check or stop, or deter (an action). To stop the progression of (an illness); also, to alleviate (pain); often followed by of: to relieve (someone's) pain.
To extinguish or put out (as a fire, anger, etc.); also, to quench or satisfy (as desire, hunger, thirst, etc.).
Of bleeding: to stop.
Of an occurrence or other thing: to come to an end; to cease; also, of persons: to stop acting violently.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English stanch, stanche [and other forms], a variant of Middle English staunchen, staunche (“to stop the flow of blood, diarrhoea, or other bodily fluids; to alleviate, ease; to appease, assuage, satisfy; to cure; to overcome; to put an end to; to repress, suppress; of a river or stream: to stop flowing; of waters, wind, or weather: to become calm, subside; to extinguish or put out (a fire)”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman estauncher, estaunchier, estanger, Old French estancher, estanchier (“to stop the flow of a liquid (blood, water, etc.); to make (something) watertight; to quench (thirst)”) (modern French étancher (“to stop the flow of a liquid; to make watertight; to quench (thirst); (figuratively) to assuage, quench, satiate”) [and other forms], possibly from one of the following: * From Vulgar Latin *stagnicāre, from Latin stāgnum (“piece of standing water, pond; fen, swamp”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂g- (“to drip; to seep”). * From Vulgar Latin *stānticāre, from *stānticus (“tired”), from Latin stāns, stāntis (“standing; remaining, staying”). Stāns is the present active participle of stō (“to stand; to remain, stay”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”). Etymology 2 sense 1.2 (“to make (a building or other structure) watertight or weatherproof”) is derived from French étancher (“to stop water from flowing, make watertight”), from Old French estanchier (verb): see above. Cognates * Catalan estancar (“to hold up, block, halt (something); to come to a standstill; to stagnate”) * Galician estancar (“to stop (the flow of blood, water, etc.)”) * Italian stancare (“to tire out”) * Occitan estancar * Portuguese estancar (“to stop (the flow of blood); to stop (an action); to come to a standstill; to exhaust, weary”) * Spanish estancar (“to stop (the flow of water, etc.); to stop (an action); to stagnate”)
A floodgate by which water is accumulated, for floating a boat over a shallow part of a stream by its release; also, a dam or lock in a river.
Where this word comes from
From Old French estanche (“pond; tank”), from estanc (“pond”) (modern French étang (“pond; lagoon”)), from estanchier (verb): see further at etymology 2.
Alternative spelling of staunch (“that which stanches; act of stanching”).
Where this word comes from
See staunch (etymology 3).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.